The Webby for Good, produced in partnership with WP Engine, is a showcase of Webby-honored projects and campaigns that are promoting social good in the world.

Describe your project. What is it, what was the elevator pitch?

Since 1976, the Rolex Awards for Enterprise have supported individuals with original ideas who are determined to make the world a better place. Rolex wanted to honour these changemakers as part of the programme’s 40th anniversary. Our site, which was the storytelling hub for a broader campaign and event, featured 117 world-changing ideas brought to life since the start of the programme, four decades ago.

What key challenges did you face with this project? And how did you overcome them?

In 1978, while an industrial surveyor from Switzerland was uncovering prehistoric art hidden in European caves, an American scientist at the San Diego Zoo was searching for a non-invasive method for determining the sex of endangered birds. These were the first laureates of the Rolex Awards programme; and the uniqueness and diversity of their pursuits set the stage for a programme that would come to support a selection of the world’s most innovative projects in the areas of science, exploration, conservation, and applied technology. The challenge was to bring this rich legacy to life, creating a storytelling experience that would allow people to discover the projects of more that 100 Rolex laureates. This involved not only bringing together the best content from archives dating back 40 years, but designing a site that would incite discovery and exploration. Several paths are offered for content discovery on the website, allowing people to explore Rolex Award projects via an interactive map or through relevant filters in a hub. Once a project is selected, our pages are designed to showcase superb content from the projects, carefully curated from the programme’s archives. On the Rolex Awards 40th Anniversary website, 30-year-old documentary footage is featured alongside evocative modern reportage photography.

What was the most rewarding aspect of working on your project?

The Rolex Awards campaign speaks to the extraordinary power a single individual can exert upon the world. Immersed in these stories every day, we were determined to create something that was equally inspiring and beautiful, shining light on all that is uplifting about humanity and paying tribute to all those determined to make the world a better place.